Americans are losing touch with reality. From climate change to immigration, tens of millions of Americans have opinions wildly at odds with fact, rendering them unable to think sensibly about politics. In How America Lost Its Mind, Thomas E. Patterson explains the rise of a world of “alternative facts” and the slow-motion cultural and political calamity unfolding around us. As dire as this picture is, Patterson sees a way forward and underscores its urgency. A call to action, he encourages us to wrest institutional power from ideologues and disruptors and entrust it to sensible citizens and leaders and to demand a steady supply of trustworthy and relevant information from our news sources.